Chapter 52 Part 1

Zhu Lexing didn’t reply to Yan Mian again.

In the end, she was just like Yan Mian was right now.

The car drove deeper into the road before finally pulling up in front of the Zhu Family Old Mansion.

A servant was waiting. Once the car was parked, he greeted the two of them, took their luggage, and led the way ahead.

Zhu Lexing glanced around. Snow blanketed the ground, and in the distance, there were traces of a snowman someone had built. It was a snowy scene impossible to see in Rong City. Zhu Lexing quietly snapped a few photos and sent them to the group chat.

Yan Mian kept reminding her to watch her step. Zhu Lexing followed behind her and was about to respond carelessly when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Not far away, a casually dressed male Beta looked impatient, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Luggage? Did her hands break and she needs you to carry it in for her?”

“Or do you think an Alpha can’t even handle carrying this much?”

Before coming, Zhu Lexing had been briefed on the Zhu Family’s members.

The Zhu Family had three children. The eldest sister, Zhu Zhao, had taken over the company and controlled most of the family’s thorny lifelines. The second brother, Zhu Yan, had married into a wealthy family, and his two children were being raised at the Old Mansion, where they were quite spoiled and lived off soft money from both sides. The third was Zhu Lin.

Then there were all sorts of miscellaneous collateral relatives. There were plenty of her generation, but the one she needed to watch out for…

The Beta blocking their path, Zhu Mingyuan, had once been the most favored.

The reason it was “once” went back to the Zhu Family’s reputation as a Beta lineage. Among over a hundred relatives, not a single Alpha had ever appeared.

That long-standing balance had only been broken when Zhu Lexing differentiated into an Alpha.

The servant knew he was being unfairly targeted and hesitated, unsure how to respond.

But if he really followed Zhu Mingyuan’s words and didn’t carry the luggage in, he’d just get called blind by the others.

After Zhu Mingyuan opened with mockery, Zhu Lexing had already removed him from her list of concerns.

Dealing with someone both stupid and malicious was a waste of even a second. But she couldn’t ignore the servant being bullied, so she simply took the suitcase herself. “I’ll handle it.”

The servant hesitated. “Miss…”

“Didn’t you hear what she said?” Zhu Mingyuan sneered coldly. “Do what she tells you.”

In Zhu Mingyuan’s eyes, most of the family assets were already his for the taking. But ever since Zhu Lexing differentiated into an Alpha, relatives and elders alike subconsciously put her ahead of him in everything.

Just because she was an Alpha.

The suitcase didn’t hold everyday items—it was full of gifts Zhu Lexing had prepared for the Zhu Family members on the System’s suggestion. Yan Mian had helped her pick them out, so she naturally knew there was even one for the Zhu Mingyuan standing before them.

Such goodwill might not mean much, but Zhu Mingyuan’s attitude still made Yan Mian bristle.

Yan Mian’s brow furrowed slightly, and Zhu Mingyuan turned his gaze to her.

He still had to give Zhu Lexing some face, but looking at the frail Omega in front of him, he didn’t bother hiding his sense of superiority. “What tomcat or mangy dog shows up at this hour—”

Zhu Lexing might have been able to barely ignore him if he hadn’t targeted Yan Mian. Just like Zhu Lin had said, getting along harmoniously with the relatives.

But the moment he opened his mouth at her, Zhu Lexing felt her emotions surge out of control. “Even dogs don’t block the path. What the hell do you think you’re doing standing there?”

Yan Mian instinctively looked toward Zhu Lexing.

But Zhu Lexing had already calmly taken her right hand, silently soothing her.

Zhu Mingyuan froze, then stared in utter disbelief. “You’re actually talking to me like that?”

“Can’t understand human speech?” Zhu Lexing paused for a few seconds before asking, “Do I need to learn dog first before communicating with you?”

Zhu Mingyuan fumed. “Zhu Lexing!”

After bellowing her name with all his bluster, Zhu Mingyuan glared death at Zhu Lexing, his mind racing for an attack point.

Dragging family into it was a no-go, and going low would just get him schooled. He sneered, “As expected, Alphas have no brains. It must’ve sped up the evaporation of what little manners you had to begin with.”

Zhu Lexing stood her ground, even giving him a good ten seconds. When that was all he came up with, she laughed coldly. “A brain that’s evaporating fast is still better than something that never grew one at all.”

Zhu Mingyuan’s so-called “restraint” crumbled under the direct mockery. He opened his mouth to retort, but a voice rang out from behind him. “Go inside.”

The woman’s voice was icy, laced with impatience, delivered in a commanding tone that left no room for argument.

The anger surging in Zhu Mingyuan’s head froze solid. He instinctively turned, his tone turning timid. “A-Auntie—”

Zhu Lexing: “…Oh snap!”

The woman who controlled the Zhu Family’s economic lifelines had arrived.

In the original work, after the original host differentiated into an Alpha and took over most of the family business, she started mingling frequently with the relatives she’d once despised. Zhu Zhao was the only one who had always looked down on the original host from start to finish.

It was precisely this unchanging disdain for the original host that allowed her to stay out of the finale’s mess.

With that in mind, Zhu Lexing had a high opinion of Zhu Zhao. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

She greeted her enthusiastically. “Auntie!”

Her tone was warm, a far cry from Zhu Mingyuan’s rat-before-a-cat terror.

Yan Mian didn’t know the details, but anyone Zhu Lexing liked, she’d like too. Unsure how to address her, she simply smiled.

Zhu Zhao was holding a teacup handle and paused at the sudden greeting. She glanced at the two of them, nodded in acknowledgment, and let her gaze linger on Yan Mian’s face for a moment.

“You did well on the exam.” Zhu Zhao responded curtly. “It’s late. Go rest.”

The servant who had spoken earlier finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued leading the way.

Meanwhile, Zhu Mingyuan stood there dumbfounded. Zhu Zhao’s taciturn nature was infamous in the Zhu Family—even he hadn’t heard her speak so much in one go over the past few years.

…And it was all praise, no less.

Zhu Mingyuan wanted to say something more, but Zhu Zhao cut him off coldly. “Aren’t you going up?”

Only then did the Beta slink away dejectedly.

The Old Mansion was enormous. Compared to it, the Zhu Family estate in Rong City seemed like nothing more than a child’s sandcastle.

They passed through a long corridor, the wheels of the wheelchair rumbling dully over the carpet.

The deeper they went, the more clearly Zhu Lexing could hear a faint meow.

At first, she thought she’d imagined it and casually asked, “Do you keep cats here?”

The servant looked a bit awkward. “Well… Miss Mingya likes cats, so she keeps one here.”

Their names made it obvious they were siblings, so Zhu Lexing had no reason to take her frustration with Zhu Mingyuan out on her. She simply nodded, oblivious to any deeper meaning.

The System, afraid she might miss Zhu Mingya’s intentions, chimed in: 【That cat was originally kept in the Zhu Family Side Hall. When she heard you were coming back, Zhu Mingya had it moved here.】

Zhu Lexing: “…”

What was the point of that?

Did putting a cat in a place meant for humans make her feel demoted, humiliated, and angry?

Zhu Lexing pondered for a moment and suddenly realized it was actually a clever move—provided, of course, that the original host was the one arriving.

Yan Mian seemed to have thought of the same thing. After a few seconds of silence, the corners of her lips curved into a smile.”

Zhu Lexing and Yan Mian’s rooms were directly across from each other. The bedrooms were similarly furnished, differing only in size. As soon as the light flicked on in the larger one, a black shadow darted past them with a whoosh, bolting straight out the door and fleeing.

Zhu Lexing glanced at Yan Mian.

They locked eyes for a few seconds, then both burst into helpless laughter.

In the Old Mansion, Zhu Lexing wasn’t worried about the cat’s safety. She turned to Yan Mian. “Get some rest.”

As Zhu Lexing moved to leave the room, Yan Mian suddenly tugged at her sleeve. “Lexing—”

Zhu Lexing went on high alert. “What? You’re not thinking of sharing a room with me, are you?”

Before she could spiral further, Yan Mian interrupted, her ears turning faintly red. “No.”

She eyed her suspiciously. “…Really?”

She replied, “If you keep dawdling, it will be.”

Zhu Lexing stared at her for a few seconds and was about to leave when Yan Mian suddenly pulled her back and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.

“You’re not shy anymore.”

She blurted it out at lightning speed, then pushed the still-dazed Zhu Lexing out the door.

The door clicked shut. Suddenly locked out, Zhu Lexing stared blankly. “………………?”

She knew it!

She glared at the closed door, tempted to recreate that classic door-pounding scene from the movies, but in the end, she stayed silent and gave up.

【Scan complete. Host’s heart rate has already…】

Zhu Lexing interrupted viciously: 【Do you know how annoying you are?!】

For once, the System cracked a rare joke: 【The Host isn’t human.】

Zhu Lexing still preferred its defiant, silent-as-gold vibe from when it had threatened to zap her.

That first afternoon of the holiday, everyone in the group chat rushed back to their family homes, swapping stories about their weird and wonderful relatives. Zhu Lexing scrolled through for a bit, then suddenly remembered something and poked Shi Ruofeng.

-You tomorrow

She’d barely typed three words when Shi Ruofeng sent a photo.

Under bright lights, Li Nian was folding paper cranes while a little girl watched eagerly from the side. In the background, several unfamiliar but friendly faces peeked into frame “by accident.”

A perfect family gathering, warm and cozy.

Zhu Lexing: “…?”

-Why are you spending the New Year at Li Nian’s house?

-You brought Yan Mian home with you. Why can’t I be here?